


So You Had a Bad Day

by songofthe52hertzwhale



Category: Dalton Academy Series
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-23
Updated: 2019-02-23
Packaged: 2019-11-04 10:57:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17897165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/songofthe52hertzwhale/pseuds/songofthe52hertzwhale
Summary: Julian opens up, for once.





	So You Had a Bad Day

It's easy, now that he's watching.

He's not sure how he ever fell for Julian's act before, how he couldn't see through the paper-thin facade. The smile is different -- tighter around the eyes, strained at the corners of his lips, his dimples invisible. He holds himself cautiously, like he's tensing up within himself. It's so horribly, painfully obvious.

Julian's upset.

He reaches for him, when Julian passes him in the hallway, but Julian brushes him off, mumbles an excuse and disappears into his room.

For a moment, Logan considers letting him have this.

But then the quiet sniffling starts.

Whatever it is, Julian doesn't deserve to deal with it alone.

Logan doesn't bother knocking. He knows how quickly Julian can hide this, how easily he can turn it off when he needs to. He's already wiping his face clean when the door closes behind Logan, turning to him with a tight smile and questioning eyes.

"Do you need something?" he asks, and Logan remembers a time where he wouldn't have noticed the waver in Julian's voice.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Julian plays at ignorance, "Talk about what?"

"About why you're upset?"

"I'm not upset."

"Julian."

"Logan."

A year or so ago, Logan would've let it go right here. Would have gotten frustrated with Julian for keeping things so bottled up, for refusing to talk to the people that were meant to be his friends.

He knows better, now.

Knows that Julian does this because he's scared, because he considers opening up a sign of weakness. Knows that no matter how much Julian pushes back, all he wants is for someone to show they care.

"We don't have to talk about it," Logan offers, leaning against Julian's desk, "But whatever it is, I'm not letting you deal with it alone. We promised we wouldn't keep secrets anymore, Jules."

"It's not a fucking secret," Julian spits out, "I'm allowed to have shit days, aren't I?"

"And you're allowed to ask for support when you have them. I can go get Derek, if you'd prefer, but I'm not letting you sit here and cry by yourself."

"I'm not _crying_ ," Julian retorts, but it's too late. He's reached his limit and suppressing his emotions. His voice cracks, his shoulders tremble, and the tears spill.

He mutters a curse under his breath, brings his hands to cover his face. He turns away from Logan.

"It's fucking stupid," he mumbles, "It's not even anything...it was just a bad fucking day, alright? I'm fine."

"But you don't have to be," Logan says, "You're allowed to be upset. You're allowed to be sad, and angry, and frustrated. And you're allowed to talk to your friends about it. God knows I drown you two in my feelings all the time."

"But nothing even happened," Julian says, "Nothing that _matters_."

"You can still talk about it. Talking about it helps. Or so my therapist says."

Julian sniffles, peeks over his shoulder with wet eyes, "Since when do you listen to your therapist?"

"I don't, mostly. But the talking part stuck."

Julian takes a shaky breath. He lowers his hands, wipes a stray tear from his cheek. He looks unsure, at first, glancing up and then away.

"I overslept," he says, "Which...is fine, y'know, but there was no coffee left. So I was exhausted in class. Had a pop quiz in Chem that I absolutely bombed, it's like I'd never even seen half the words before."

"Well that's not too bad, right?" Logan offers, "You have a decent grade in Chem, pop quizzes are a pretty small percentage. It shouldn't drag you down too badly."

"Then I tripped," Julian continues, "I've been _fine_ , you know? All the physical therapists said I was doing great. But I was walking down the hall and it's like my leg just stopped working, and I fell in front of _everyone_."

"Jules..."

"Then the cafeteria ran out of turkey sandwiches before my lunch period. And I sat with _Kurt_ , who kept talking about this stupid sappy date he and Blaine just went on, which just reminded me that I'm fucking alone and it doesn't look like that's changing anytime soon, and then I found out from _Twitter_ that fucking Chalamet got that role I was going for, that once I really wanted? And then I looked in the mirror and I have a  _pimple_ , Logan, and it was just -- it was just a lot of stupid little things all at once and I don't know  _why_ I'm so upset, it doesn't make any sense."

His breath hitches, and he brings his hands to his face once more. He's trying to steady his breathing, Logan can tell. He takes a step forward, wraps his fingers around Julian's wrists and pulls them down.

"Hey," he says, trying to keep his voice soft, "You remember that time I had a total freak-out because I banged my head on a doorway? That was a lot more dramatic than what you're doing right now, and that was just one thing. I know it sounds dumb to you, but sometimes you just have bad days, and it sucks, okay?"

Julian sniffles again, nods slightly.

"And, for the record, I'm standing  _very_ close to you, and I don't see any pimples."

Julian laughs, just slightly, gestures vaguely at his nose, "It's here. On the side. It hurts."

"Derek's the one who stole that fancy drying lotion you got in France. I'll help you steal it back. It'll be gone by morning."

"Yeah," Julian almost smiles, "Yeah, probably. Thank you."

"For the other stuff..." Logan pushes Julian to the side, just slightly, pulls him down so they can both sit on the edge of his bed, "I'll leave a note in the kitchen, to remind everyone to make new coffee if they take the rest. Derek's fantastic in chemistry, I'm sure he wouldn't mind helping you out. I know the tripping sucks, but you _are_ doing great, and I'm sure everyone who saw was just worried. Nobody was making fun of you. I'm sorry about the sandwiches. And the being alone part, because I _know_ that fucking sucks sometimes. And anyone who would pick anyone over you for their movie doesn't deserve to have you, you here me?"

Julian  _actually_ smiles, now, his eyes still a little watery, "You're good at this, you know. The comforting."

"I try," Logan squeezes his shoulder, "Now, are you going to be dramatic like usual and watch some heartbreaking movie because you're a masochist, or can I order us food and put on something funny?"

Julian shakes his head, "I kinda just want to take a nap, I think?"

"Okay," Logan nods, leans in and brushes a kiss against Julian's temple, "Let me know if you need anything though, alright?"

He stands up, assuming Julian wants to be left alone. But Julian's hand catches his wrist, and he looks almost  _shy_.

"Could...would you mind staying?" he asks, softly, "Just for a little while. I don't think I want to be alone right now."

It's such a small thing to ask, but it's perhaps the most honest request Julian's ever made of him. Logan smiles at him, kicks off his shoes and slides onto the bed. Julian's a little hesitant to follow, leaves a bit of space between them when he finally stretches out. Logan doesn't want to scare him away. He lets their fingertips brush, just slightly, just enough of a touch to be comforting.

Julian's eyes drift closed quickly enough. Logan just watches him, for a moment, watches the tears dry on his skin, watches his features relax in rest. He's sure Julian's asleep, until his lips part and he speaks so softly Logan barely hears.

"Thank you."


End file.
